7 Drawbacks to Your Desk Job

Our bodies are designed to move. However, if you have a regular desk job you are probably seated for long periods of the day. How many hours do you spend sitting down, whether it be at work, driving your car, or simply watching television? The answer is, probably far longer than you ever realised. What impact is this daily slouch having on your body? I have listed my top 7 drawbacks below. All of these drawbacks are quite commonplace, and something you need to be aware of.

Forward Head Posture

Protruding Gut

Rounded Shoulders

Flat Butt

Lower Back Pain

Tight Hamstrings

Knee Pain

1. Forward Head Posture

Adopting the slouch position over your desk can lead to forward head posture, as illustrated in the photograph above. This can lead to chronic neck pain.

Need to – stretch neck muscles

2. Rounded Shoulders

The majority of people have some degree of rounded shoulders, which can strain your upper back muscles leading to pain and injury. If this becomes chronic you can develop a hump in your back. It also contributes to shallow breathing as your diaphragm is compressed.

Need to – strengthen upper back muscles and stretch chest muscles

3. Lower Back Pain

You can experience lower back pain with the daily slouch as your lower back muscles weaken. Or you can experience anterior pelvic tilt where the lower back muscles tighten up. Either way, both can lead to pain and injury in the lower back.

Many people have a protruding gut due to weak lower tummy muscles. It is common for these muscles to be weak due to tight hip flexors, and sometimes tight lower back muscles as with anterior pelvic tilt.

Need to – stretch hip flexors and strengthen lower tummy muscles

5. Tight Hamstrings

The hamstrings are the large muscles on the upper back of your legs. When seated these muscles are tightened. Tight hamstrings can lead to muscle strains and pulls, also knee pain as discussed below.

The butt muscle is inactive in a seated position so it can weaken over time. This means movements which require the butt muscle to work become more difficult, such as climbing stairs or rising from a seated position. Extra stress can be placed on the lower back and hamstrings to do the work of the weak butt, which can lead to injury and pain.

Need to – strengthen your butt through exercises like lunges, squats, and deadlifts.

7. Knee Pain

Tight hamstring and calf muscles put pressure on the knee, and weak quadricep muscles can cause the knee to track out of alignment. This can lead to knee injury and instability.

It’s great to be able to blend the useful with the agreeable. Working a desc job i try to combine an outdoor physical work with my routine. It exactly helps me with productivity, reduces stress and releases “feel good” chemicals. Moreover, it really relaxes each muscles involved in all-day sitting (that is the basic weakness of being a programmer).